“I was just confused,” he says. “It was all new to me. It was so much.”

Jones had left Aquinas Institute, where he was a two-time all-state defensive lineman, and ventured to the holy land of football known as South Bend, Ind., where the most famous college team in the world plays. Jones quickly found out that the Notre Dame experience is a little different than Aquinas. Different from pretty much any other Division I program, in fact.

“It’s a whole different world,” he says.

Jones spent two springs learning the ropes at defensive end, and not with much success. But necessity is the mother of re-invention. Injuries to Louis Nix and Kona Schwenke forced Irish coach Brian Kelly to shift his confused redshirt freshman inside to nose guard last November on Senior Day against Brigham Young. And the results were startling. Jones came into the game and recorded seven tackles, doubling his total for the year. He also batted down a pass and blocked a short field goal that would have made it a one-score game.

He started the next week against Stanford (4 tackles) and recorded his first career college sack in the Dec. 28 Pinstripe Bowl win over Rutgers at Yankee Stadium.

Now, as Notre Dame prepares to open a new season at home Saturday against Rice, the 6-foot-5 ½, 315-pound Jones is a starter for the most famous college team in the world. He figures to be a huge part of an attacking four-man front designed by new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, who was with the NFL’s New York Jets last season.

“This is a really big year for me,” Jones says. “We’ve got a whole new (national) playoff system working and I’m competing for a starting job. A lot is on the line.”

Literally. Jones played nose in a three-man front last year, but VanGorder’s new scheme excites him.

“I’ll still be a nose guard, so it’s not really a change,” he says. “I’ll just have one-depth responsibility instead of two-depth, and more guys on the line. It’s different, but fun.”

He actually played in a 4-3 defense in high school.

“That’s what I’m used to,” he says.

Jones grew up in Rochester (his family recently moved to Greece) and played three years of varsity football for Chris Battaglia at Aquinas, winning a state title his junior year. His older brothers, Matthew and Jonathan, brought home a state crown for the Little Irish in 2007 and younger brother Jamir, a receiver/linebacker who counts Syracuse and Old Dominion as Division I schools recruiting him, was part of last year’s state title team. Younger sister Jaiviana also attends Aquinas.

“Jarron comes from one of the best families I’ve ever met,” Battaglia says. “Great mom and dad (Matthew Sr. and Lakiescha), and great kids.”

Jarron was a two-time first team all-state and two-time All-Greater Rochester selection. He received 36 scholarship offers from Division I schools, including powerhouses Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State — and Notre Dame. He gave a “soft verbal” to Penn State before the child molestation scandal that rocked the Nittany Lions program, and he ended up signing a letter of intent with Notre Dame in February 2012.

He also played basketball at Aquinas and helped that team reach the state championship game his senior year. He recorded a triple double against Charlotte that season, pulling down a school-record 33 rebounds while scoring 20 points and blocking 11 shots.

“Jarron is one of those young men when you talk about defensive linemen, you want to look toward their athletic ability,” Kelly said on signing day. “I got a chance to see him play basketball, an incredible athlete at (his size), and he still hasn’t developed yet. His ceiling is so high relative to strength and work volume.”

Jones didn’t play his first year at Notre Dame, which was quite a shock for a player who had dominated in high school on both sides of the line. He dressed for every Irish game, home and road but could only watch as the Irish were hammered 42-14 by Alabama in the national championship game in Miami, ending their dream of an undefeated season.

“It was a huge disappointment,” he says. “It kind of feels like a loss on your part, because I was on the scout team preparing (the starters) for this big game. It was a humbling experience, but it didn’t kill me.”

Last year, he played in 12 games, including the eye-opener against BYU.

“It was such a breath of fresh air,” he says. “Getting on the field again and playing in front of that many people was a great experience. Now that I’m used to it, it’s about improving myself as a player.”

Battaglia has remained one of Jones’ mentors, and gave him a pep talk during a visit from Jarron to Aquinas during a bye week last year.

“He was all down,” the longtime coach says. “Our relationship has been a little bit of tough love. He said ‘Things are hard,’ and my point was, ‘I don’t care if you play a down of football, you’re getting a free Notre Dame education. It’s going to change your life. Just be the best person you can become.’ ”

Jones went back to South Bend, and something clicked.

“I got serious,” he says.

Jones says there’s nothing quite like being a Notre Dame football player.

“It’s a great experience, one I recommend to anyone who has dreams of being a football player,” he says. “The fans here are diehard, but the brand of Notre Dame football expands around the world. Everyone who loves Notre Dame football knows who you are.”

But with that recognition comes responsibility.

“You’re not able to live a regular-kid lifestyle,” he says. “You’ve got to think twice about what you do, because people can take it and run with it.”

Jones saw first-hand how expansive Notre Dame’s popularity was when the team opened the 2012 season in Dublin, Ireland with a 50-10 romp over Navy before 49,000 people.

“It was a great experience seeing what their culture was like,” Jones says. “It was my first time outside the U.S. I remember being on the sidelines and a fan ran out, took a football and kicked it like it was rugby. Everyone was cheering.”

The beginning of last season didn’t go well. Kelly knew that Jones was struggling in the classroom and on the football field and gave his promising freshman a wakeup call the week of the Southern Cal game. He moved Jones to the scout team, where he was charged with “being” USC standout Leonard Williams. Kelly works a lot with the first-team offense and wanted to keep an eye on Jones.

“We wanted to see that fire every single play,” Kelly told reporters last fall, “and I liked what he did in the couple of weeks that he was down with us.”

Jones understood the move.

“The whole scout-team experience was to bring more consistency off the field and onto the field,” he says. “That’s what I struggled with. I’d show what I could do, but I couldn’t do it consistently.

He says he didn’t look at it as a demotion.

“I was gaining more knowledge on how to be consistent,” he says. “Lining up against (Dallas Cowboys No. 1 draft pick) Zack Martin every day, and having the head coach watching every play, you had no choice but to give it your all. And once I went back to working with the defense, everything changed. I had a brand new attitude.”

By the end of the year, he was starting – on defense.

Now, it’s a new season. New position. New scheme. New confidence.

“I’m ready,” Jones says. “Ready as I’ve ever been.”

A few months ago, Jones tweeted a link that had him ranked on a list of NFL prospects.

“It was future draft rankings,” he says. “They had me as a defensive end. That’s how old the rankings were. But it was still cool.”

He says playing in the NFL has “always been a dream,” and he has three more seasons at Notre Dame to improve his stock. “I see the NFL as an opportunity to give a life to my parents that they gave to me,” he says. “It’s about shooting to be your best. And having nothing stop you.”